Ben Mellor
In a study conducted by Zuto, Nottingham ranked 7th place nationwide as being a city friendly for student drivers, beating any other city in the Midlands. Take a look at how this was achieved.
Tying together five different factors, Zuto created a ‘Sustainability score’, looking at the average parking permit costs, road traffic numbers, petrol prices, average insurance quotes, and the number of car clampdowns.
Topping the list for the number one spot is York, which scored well all-round, with cheap parking permits (averaging £47.50), good insurance quotes (averaging £395.92), as well as low road traffic.
It is a welcome surprise that it was crowned the best city, as it is the only Northern city to feature in the top ten at all. Overall, there was a heavy Southern dominance among the ranking, with 40% of the ten cities being from the South of England.
So how does Nottingham compare? Coming in at 7th place, Nottingham has performed well. One example is fuel cost, where it averages 130.7p/litre, which is considerably cheaper than other cities found on the list – with some reaching 134p.
Additionally, when it comes to parking permits, any student that has gone through the process of applying will know that the fee is dependent upon the emissions of the vehicle applied for. As a result, the cost ranges from £78 up to £182. This is much cheaper than parking permits in Glasgow, who ranked last in the survey, with a permit costing on average an eye-watering £1187.16.
With all the attributes pointing to Nottingham being a good location for student drivers, we wanted to see if they themselves agreed. Speaking to a 1st Year UoN student, a different picture is offered: “Notts, as like any other city, I don’t find accessible to drive into at all, parking is expensive, and the roads are chaos. UoN is also inaccessible for student drivers as the parking permit only applies to students outside the 15-mile radius in most cases.”
See below a table showing the best & worst cities for student drivers from the survey:
Overall, Nottingham’s performance in the survey shows it to be student driver friendly based upon these statistics, beating out many other university cities. However, while it may be good in theory to be a student driver in Nottingham, speaking to several students has shown in practice public transport can be a much more appealing option.
Ben Mellor
Featured image courtesy of Ben Mellor. Permission to use granted to Impact.
In-article images courtesy of Ben Mellor. Permission to use granted to Impact.
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